DeRidder is a heralded 18-year-old from Fenton, a prospect MSU has been waiting on since he committed two years ago. The early returns are promising.

“On the ice, he’s obviously very good,” MSU junior forward Taro Hirose said. “He’s very quick. I know he’s stopped me a couple times when I thought I had an open net. In the locker room, he’s just sort of quiet, keeps to himself, professional sort of attitude, which I think we need more of.”

Cole, who described DeRidder’s early play as “outstanding,” said this week that the plan early is to give DeRidder and Lethemon each a start every weekend, until there is separation.

“First, he stops a lot of pucks. Easy ones don’t go in on Drew and you like that,” Cole said of DeRidder. “The second part, which is probably more important, is his compete level. He just never gives up on a puck. And that’s good for him. It’s good for the defense. But it’s great for the guys in practice having to battle that hard to put pucks in the net and finish. He’s off the charts on that.

“Jon’s responded real well. He’s come off a little bit of an injury. He’s had a good three or four weeks. He looks better than he did last year, which is what we wanted. He’s older, he’s got to be better (than DeRidder to play).”

Lethemon allowed 2.88 goals per game in 34 appearances last season. Cole said he wants that mark lowered by about half a goal per game, which, of course, isn’t all on the goaltender.

“That increase in goaltending is a must,” Cole said.

CLOSE

MSU hockey coach Danton Cole explains how he expects things to be different in Year 2.
Graham Couch, Lansing State Journal

DeRidder comes across as a confident kid, finding the adjustment to college life more difficult than the adjustments on the ice, even if there aren’t a lot of 18-year-old goalies as full-time starters in college hockey.

“I don’t notice a difference. It’s hockey,” DeRidder said. “It’s the one place where it’s the same all the time for me.”

DeRidder, who played for Cedar Rapids in the USHL and then last season for the U.S. National Development Program, could be a four-year goalie for the Spartans, given that he’s undersized as a pro prospect.

If that’s the case, he’ll be a part of whatever the next chapter of Spartan hockey is.

“I can feel it coming back,” DeRidder said. “I’ve been on bad teams. I’ve been on really good teams. You can feel it with the leadership in the locker room, it’s really coming back.”